The Skeptics Annotated Bible (702 page)

4 For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

5 O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the LORD.

6 Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God?
shall I come before him with burnt offerings
, with calves of a year old?

7
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams
, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

(6.6-7) “Shall I come before him with burnt offerings … Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams?”
20 Does God desire animal sacrifices?

8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

(6.8) “What is good … but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly?”

9 The LORD’S voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.

10 Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable?

11 Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights?

12 For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

(6.13-16) God will make his people sick, hungry, and desolate. Those who survive he will “give up to the sword.”

13
Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins.

(6.13)
“Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins.”

14
Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied
; and thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take hold, but shalt not deliver;
and that which thou deliverest will I give up to the sword.

(6.14)
“Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied … and that which thou deliverest will I give up to the sword.”

15 Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine.

16 For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that
I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing
: therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people.

(6.16) “I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing.”

(7.1-5) Woe is you, me, and everyone else. Never trust a friend or lover.

7
Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit.

(7.1)
“Woe is me!”

2 The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.

(7.2) “There is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.”

3
That they may do evil with both hands
earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.

(7.3)
“That they may do evil with both hands.”

4 The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.

5
Trust ye not in a friend
, put ye not confidence in a guide
: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.

(7.5)
“Trust ye not in a friend … keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.”
Advice like this is only found in the Bible.

6 For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.

7 Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.

8 Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.

9 I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.

10 Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the LORD thy God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets.

11 In the day that thy walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed.

12 In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.

13 Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.

14 Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.

15 According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous things.

(7.16-17) The Gentiles will be made deaf, shall lick dust and be forced to crawl like worms from fear of God and his people.

16
The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf.

(7.16)
“The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf.”

17
They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of thee.

(7.17)
“They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of thee.”